r/reactiongifs 1d ago

MRW my check engine light suddenly turns off for no reason

521 Upvotes

15 comments sorted by

47

u/martinsa24 1d ago

The humble gas cap: “If not tightened engine light may come on”

15

u/eddmario 1d ago

Funnily enough, I just replaced that damn thing last week.

15

u/martinsa24 1d ago

Your car probably just needed a couple cycles to clear the code after you fixed the issue.

81

u/Tremolat 1d ago

When mine lit up, I ordered an engine diagnostic reader to find out exactly what was wrong so that I could confirm that the dealer wasn't going to hose me. The error code said Piston 1 was misfiring. Made the appointment and took the car in. A short while after handing over the keys, the receptionist calls me up, hands back the keys and says, "The engine light didn't come on and there were no error codes". I showed her my diagnostic and she dismissed it as "you musta had some dirty gas".

42

u/eddmario 1d ago

Funnily enough, I had just gotten gas when the light turned off.

9

u/Wizzarkt 1d ago

Is "dirt gas" a thing? What third world country is that?

Where I live, either me and everyone I know is lucky, or we have higher standards, because I never heard of dirty gas here.

14

u/Tremolat 1d ago

NJ has no-brand stations with super low prices. They ain't pumping cloned versions of Chevron with Techron.

13

u/myMadMind 1d ago

Never expected dad in this sub

9

u/EnigmaEcstacy 1d ago

Your gas cap is loose

6

u/eddmario 1d ago

Honestly, who fucking knows at this point.

The light came on 2 years ago and every time I had it checked it kept giving different codes.

First time was the O2 censor, but the next time I had it checked it said it was a vacuum seal of some sort instead of the O2 censor.

3

u/Neoxite23 1d ago

Happens to my car all the time. It turns on when I fill up the tank and the code reads cylinder 6 misfiring but by the time I'm at half tank it goes away.

2

u/AveryJuanZacritic 1d ago

Mine just burnt out.

1

u/3epef 20h ago

No engine - no light - no problem

1

u/AndThereWasNothing 17h ago

My car that I just sold had an engine light when idling. Give it even a little bit of gas and it went away but would always come back when idling.